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My recovery and online research about WNV

I became ill with WNV in 2013 at age 65 and was hospitalized with meningoencephalitis, the deadly neuroinvasive form. I have recovered well compared to others I have met online on survivors groups. My memory is now intact and my chief complaint is emotional lability and difficulty sleeping due to awakening with anxiety. Like most patients, I had little knowlege of WNV and had known no-one else with the illness and was told, like so many others, that since it was a virus there was nothing that could be done except supportive therapy with fluids and sedation. But I am a trained scientist and after my initial recovery, I began researching it rigorously. Before I became ill with WNV I had been religiously taking the over-the-counter compound EGCG for about 10 years because it is known to be neuroprotective and I have a history of alzheimer's in my family. I discovered with my research that this supplement is not only neuroprotective, but prevents the virus from replicating, and I believe that coincidence kept the "Viral storm" from progressing and allowed my immune system to overcome it. Now I know that there are several options for patients while they are in the acute phase that might increase their chances of survival or perhaps recovering with fewer life-long deficits. To that end I have created a science library of pertinent medical literature for physicians and patients (or family) to help them better uncerstand the illness and explore options for therapy while they are in the acute phase. This science reference manager for sharing research is at https://www.mendeley.com/groups/7652101/west-nile-virus-information-and-therapeutics/. I welcome anyone to visit, copy, and distribute in any way that might be of use. Physicians will not visit Facebook groups or personal websites, but may be familiar with Mendeley and be more ap to visit for information.

I also suggest that it might be of use to join the closed Facebook groups, West Nile Virus Support Group at  https://www.facebook.com/groups/63045475918/ , and West Nile Information at  https://www.facebook.com/groups/westnileinformation/ , to share your stories and receive support and knowlege from other survivors that may be helpful

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